The new NHS Information Service for Parents will give mothers and fathers ‘advice they can trust’, covering a wide range of issues related to staying healthy in pregnancy, preparing for birth and looking after their baby.
Those who sign up to the service will be sent NHS-approved advice to their phone or email, including links to specially commissioned videos with midwives demonstrating practical advice such as how to bathe a baby.
Launching the service, Prime Minister David Cameron said, ‘Parents are nation-builders. It's through love and sheer hard work that we raise the next generation with the right values. That’s why this government is doing everything possible to support parents.
‘We’re doing the big, long-term things to make this country stronger for our children – dealing with our debts; having a massive push for better schools; working to create more good, skilled jobs in our economy.
‘But we’re also focused on making life easier for parents day-to-day, from extending childcare to increasing the number of health visitors. The parenting classes and films we’re launching are an important part of that, providing clear, professionally-led advice on everything from teething to tantrums.’
A number of other services to support mothers and fathers have also been introduced by the Government.
Last September, ministers announced plans to trial the use of vouchers for parenting classes to mothers and fathers with children under the age of five.
The scheme is being piloted in three areas - Middlesborough, High Peak in Derbyshire and Camden.
Parents will be able to use vouchers, available from Boots stores, children’s centres and health visitors, to pay for the classes, which are being delivered by the NCT, Coram, Save the Children and the Fatherhood Institute.
Relationship support sessions for first-time parents will also be trialled in July in four areas - York and Leeds, North Essex, Hackney and the City of London, and Islington and Westminster.
The Government hopes that the support sessions will help new mothers and fathers by reassuring them it is normal for their relationship to go through a transition period after they have a child.
The trial, managed by the National Childbirth Trust, will involve sessions run by Relate, The Tavistock Centre for Couple Relationships and the Fatherhood Institute.
Ryan Shorthouse, researcher at the Social Market Foundation, said, 'How parents interact with their children in the very earliest years has a profound impact on long-term development. So it is a very positive move by the Government to help parents access classes which will support them.
'But the key is whether this voucher alone is enough to lead to sustained participation among low-income families. And the most successful interventions for parents facing more challenging circumstances are expensive. Local authorities face squeezed budgets, putting these programmes at risk.'